Curtain pole

ABSTRACT

A curtain pole having a generally circular cross-section with at least one flattened side. The curtain pole consists of a plurality of pole pieces which are connected together to produce a curtain pole having a centre line which diverges from the centre of line of the original uncut pole.

The present invention relates to curtain poles.

Curtain poles are used extensively for hanging curtains. The usual formof such devices comprises an elongate pole, generally but not alwaysmade of wood, which carries rings, slidable along the pole, from whichthe curtains are suspended. The pole itself is supported adjacent toit's ends, and at it's midpoint when the pole is intended for use with apair of curtains.

Such known curtain poles are very successful for use with straightwindows. They cannot however be used effectively for full-bay orsemi-bay windows where bending would be required.

The present invention seeks to provide a pole construction which enablescurtain poles to follow a bend without significantly detracting from theappearance of the pole.

The applicant's earlier patent no. GB234834 relates to a pole cornerarrangement to allow curtain poles to be used in locations where a bendis required. Although the product has proven reasonably successful, theapplicant has found a number of disadvantages with the construction. Inparticular, it has proven to be extremely difficult accurately to cutthe wooden corner pieces to the desired angles and planes to allowaccurate abutment of the corner pieces. Furthermore, movement betweenthe corner pieces of the pole causes a force to be exerted at the areasin which the pole is supported to the wall, resulting in movement of thepole at these points when the curtains are opened or drawn.

These disadvantages are undesirable and detract from the appearance andpractical use of the pole.

The present invention seeks to provide an improved pole construction toovercome or at least alleviate the aforementioned disadvantages.

According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a supportingpole for connection to wall surface, the pole having a circular orsubstantially circular cross-section with at least one flattened side.

According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided acurtain pole having a circular or substantially circular cross sectionwith at least one flattened side, the pole comprising a plurality of thepole pieces each cut transversely from a unitary pole and having at oneor each end an inclined face, and means for connecting the pole piecestogether to produce a unitary pole having a centre line which divergesfrom the centre line of the original uncut pole.

Preferably the pole pieces and adjacent pole parts are formed withrecesses for connection together via dovetail joints.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a corner arrangement of a curtain poleconstructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an intermediate pole piece used in thearrangement of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken through X-X of the pole piece of FIG.2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken through Y-Y of the pole piece of FIG.2;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of an end pole piece used in the arrangementof FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of a clamp suitable for use in thearrangement of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of a further clamp suitable for use inthe arrangement of FIG. 1.

FIG. 1 shows a corner arrangement 2 for a curtain pole 4. The cornerarrangement comprises five intermediate pole pieces 6 and two end polepieces 8. Each end pole piece 8 is connected to adjacent pole parts 10.

FIGS. 2 to 4 show, in perspective and cross-section, an intermediatepole piece 6. The pole piece 6 is of short length and has a circularcross section with one flattened side 12. The ends 14, 16 of the polepiece 6 are transversely slanted at an angle to the diametral plane,indicated at 18. Both ends are slanted in opposite directions by thesame angle so as to form an isosceles wedge like formation in plan view.The angle may, for example, be 15° but other angles may be used.

FIG. 6 shows an end pole piece 8. The only difference between theintermediate pole piece 6 and the end pole piece 8 is that the end polepiece 8 has only one slanted end surface 20, the other end surface 22lies in the diametral plane at right angles to the axis of the polepiece 8.

The intermediate and end pole pieces 6, 8 have a recess 24 formed inboth end walls 14, 16, 20, 22. As can be seen in FIG. 1, the pole pieces6, 8, 10 are all connected together via dovetail-shaped wedges 26received within the recesses 24 formed in the end walls of each polepiece 6, 8, 10.

Adhesive may be additionally used to retain the pole pieces 6, 8, 10firmly against one another without the need for a tensioning element.The pole pieces 6, 8, 10 are attached together in such a way that theresultant pole formed has a flattened side extending along the entirelength of the pole 4.

The fact that the pole pieces 6, 8, 10 have a flattened sides allows theend surfaces 14, 16 to be accurately cut to the desired angle.

In a further embodiment (not shown) a strip of nylon, or similarmaterial, is located on the top surface of the pole pieces and parts 6,8, 10 and extends along the length of the entire pole 4 to allow curtainrings placed around the pole 4 to slide back and forth along the polewithout being subjected to frictional forces.

In a further embodiment (also not shown) the bottom surface of the polepieces and parts 6, 8, 10 includes a recess for receiving a track, madefor example of aluminium, which extends along the entire length of thepole 4. The track includes attachment members slidable back and forthalong the track to which curtains can be attached.

FIG. 6 illustrates a wall clamp 30 suitable for attaching the curtainpole 4 to a wall. The wall clamp 30 comprises a back plate 32 forattachment to a walled surface. The plate 32 has apertures formedtherethrough to allow the plate 32 be attached to the wall usingconventional means. A U-shaped connecting plate 34 extendsperpendicularly from the back plate 32. The connecting plate 34 haselongate apertures 36 formed in each side wall.

The wall clamp 30 is connected to a curtain pole clamp 36. The poleclamp 36 comprises a back plate 38 which, in use, is attached to theflattened side surface 12 of the pole 4. A connecting plate 40 extendsperpendicularly from the back plate 38. The connecting plate 40 has anaperture 42 extending therethrough.

The connecting plate 40 of the pole clamp 36, in use, is placed withinthe side walls of the U-shaped connecting plate 34 and the two plates34, 40 are connected together via the conventional nut and boltarrangement through the apertures 36, 42. The elongate apertures 36 ofthe connecting plate 34 allows for adjustment of the connection betweenthe clamps 30, 36.

FIG. 7 illustrates a further wall clamp 44 suitable for attaching thecurtain pole 4 to a wall. The wall clamp 44 comprises a back plate 46for attachment to a walled surface. The plate 46 has apertures formedtherethrough to allow the plate 46 to be attached to the wall usingconventional means. A connecting plate 48 extends perpendicularly fromthe top edge of back plate. An elongate aperture 50 is formed through acentral area of the top plate.

An identically shaped curtain clamp 52 has a connecting plate 54 forattachment to the flattened side surfaces 12 of the pole.

The two clamps 44, 52 are connected together via a conventional nut andbolt arrangement through the elongate apertures 50, 56. The elongateapertures 50, 56 of the connecting plates 48, 54 allows for adjustmentof the connection between the clamps 44, 52.

It will be appreciated that the pole and clamp embodiments describedabove may be modified without departing from the scope of the invention.For example, although a single right angled corner has been shown, thearrangement of the invention can provide any suitable type of bend whichcan be achieved by selection of the right number of intermediate pieces6. Thus it is envisaged that shallow curves and steep curves be allowedfor as well as more sophisticated shapes such as “S” bends.

The above described embodiment has been given by way of example only,and the skilled reader will naturally appreciate that many variationscould be made thereto without departing from the scope of the presentinvention.

1. A supporting pole for connection to wall surface, the pole having agenerally circular cross-section with at least one flattened side.
 2. Asupporting pole according to claim 1, wherein the pole comprises aplurality of the pole pieces each cut transversely from a unitary poleand having at one or each end an inclined face, and means for connectingthe pole pieces together to produce a unitary pole having a centre linewhich diverges from the centre line of the original uncut pole.
 3. Asupporting pole according to claim 2, wherein the pole pieces andadjacent pole parts are formed with recesses for connection together viadovetail joints.
 4. A supporting pole according to claim 2, wherein thepole pieces include two end pieces and at least one intermediate piece.5. A supporting pole according to claim 4, wherein the or eachintermediate pole piece has opposing end surfaces which are slanted inopposite directions to form a generally isosceles wedge-like formationin plan view.
 6. A supporting pole according to claim 5, wherein eachend surface is slanted at an angle of between 10 and 20 degrees.
 7. Asupporting pole according to claim 6, wherein each end surface isslanted at an angle of 15 degrees.
 8. A supporting pole according toclaim 4, wherein each end pole piece has one slanted end surface and oneend surface that lies in the diametrical plane at right angles to theaxis of the pole piece.
 9. A supporting pole according to claim 4further comprising means to attach at least one curtain ring to the poleand means to allow the or each curtain ring to slide along the pole. 10.A supporting pole according to claim 9, wherein the attachment meanscomprises a track received within a continuous recess formed in thebottom surface of each pole piece, the track including attachmentmembers slidable along the track to which curtain rings can be attachedin use.
 11. A supporting pole substantially as hereinbefore describedand referred to in the accompanying figures.